Jaguar Land Rover launches London rental service

50 Land Rover Discovery Sports will be available on demand.

Jaguar Land Rover's venture capital fund, InMotion Ventures, has set up a new rental scheme for the premium carmaker's vehicles.

The scheme consists of an app where users can instantly call up a car that will be delivered direct to their door in London. At first just 50 Land Rover Discovery Sports will be available, but the company is hoping to add a wider range of vehicles further down the line.

The idea is to cater to a premium market that may "have a specific car in mind because they want to go to a wedding or a festival" said Sebastian Peck, managing director of InMotion Ventures. "This is designed around a new urban demographic that doesn't see much financial and emotional incentive in car ownership."

The UK's capital has the lowest rate of car-ownership anywhere in England, with 41 percent of households not owning a car or van according to Department for Transport statistics from 2017. That's more than double the number for the rest of the country.

It's all part of Jaguar Land Rover's push into new services to get drivers behind the wheel of one of its cars. It has already followed the lead from rivals Volvo, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche in offering subscription services for those unwilling to commit to purchasing a car outright.

Earlier this year Jaguar Land Rover posted losses of £3.4 billion, which came following a sales slump of 35 percent in China, which is currently the world's biggest car market. It is also in the process of cutting around 10 percent of its workforce (equating to around 4,500 jobs) as it works on a turnaround plan.